Mon MPs address Union Parliament

Min Thu Ta – Two Mon members of parliament (MPs) addressed the sixth session of the Pyidaungsu Hlutaw, or Union Parliament, in Burma’s capital of Naypyidaw last Wednesday.

“Regarding our education policy, and especially concerning its [basic principles], ‘to nurture and strengthen patriotism and union spirit’ and ‘to safeguard and preserve indigenous and/or ethnic literature and cultures,’ [some mention of] ethnic languages should be added [to the national education plan],” said Mi Myint Than of the All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMDP).

The MP from Ye constituency also advocated for higher education institutions to include ethnic language majors and accredited degrees in those subjects, along with increased funding for ethnic literature studies and preservation. She proposed advancements to the health sector that would improve medical staff training and ensure better patient care.

In his parliamentary address, Dr. Banyar Aung Moe of the AMDP said that after the 1995 ceasefire agreement signed by the Burmese government and the New Mon State Party, the predominant ethnic Mon resistance group, human rights violations and financial hardship due to land confiscation were common in Ye Township, including extortion and forced labor on plantations seized by the military.

The Pyidaungsu Hlutaw’s previous parliamentary session concluded in the third week of November and resumed on January 9, along with the sixth session of the Amyotha Hlutaw (National Parliament) and Pyithu Hlutaw (People’s Parliament).